The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Aglaonema plant, botanically known as Aglaonema hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name `Cassandra`.
The new Aglaonema is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Valkaria, Fla. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Aglaonemas with unique and interesting leaf patterns and white petioles that readily produced divisions.
The new Aglaonema originated from a cross made by the Inventors of the Aglaonema nitidum curtisii cv. `Mona Lisa` (not patented) as the male, or pollen, parent with the Aglaonema hybrid cv. `Manila Pride` (not patented) as the female, or seed, parent. The cultivar `Cassandra` was discovered and selected by the Inventors in April, 1989 as a seedling within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Valkaria, Fla.
Plants of the new Aglaonema differ from plants of the male parent, the cultivar `Mona Lisa`, in leaf pattern and petiole color. Plants of the new Aglaonema differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar `Manila Pride`, in petiole color and growth rate.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by divisions at Valkaria, Fla. has shown that the unique features of this new Aglaonema plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.